The Wheatsheaf once sold ales brewed by Phipps of Northampton. At the turn of the last century, a sign was painted directly onto the stonework at the front of the building. That historic design has now been faithfully reproduced by local sign writer Claire O’Driscoll.

The sign advertises Ratliffe’s Celebrated Stout and Horses and Traps for hire, and now hangs beneath the archway leading into the courtyard and The Menagerie — the very place where the horses for those traps were once stabled.